SACRAMENTO – Prospects for quickly ending the stalemate over the state’s budget dimmed Wednesday as the Senate failed again to pass the $145 billion spending plan, now 6 weeks overdue.

The budget bill failed 26-14, one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed for it to pass. It also fell short in the Senate on July 21.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, placed the responsibility on the chamber’s minority Republicans, who have a long list of conditions they say need to be met.

“This is a Republican problem,” he said after the failed vote. “It is going to have to be solved by Republicans.”

Wednesday’s vote came as the Senate met for the first time in 11 days and after state Controller John Chiang said he could not pay the $1.1 billion owed for July to community colleges, special education programs, nursing homes and vendors that contract with state government.

He said he will be unable to pay $2.1 billion due in August unless there is a budget agreement by the end of the month. A wait of weeks, rather than days, is looking increasingly likely.

Perata said he would not call the Senate back into session until Republicans could deliver the two GOP votes needed to send the budget to the governor. He said it’s likely the chamber will not reconvene until Aug. 20, the end of the Legislature’s summer recess.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, said his caucus was willing to keep working with Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican, to break the impasse. Republicans wanted the Senate to reconvene this morning, but that motion failed.

“We’re not going to settle for a budget that’s half-baked,” Ackerman said.

The 15-member Senate Republican caucus has maintained a united front against the spending plan since the Assembly passed the budget bill July 20 and left for its summer recess. But on Wednesday, there was a crack.

Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, broke ranks with his caucus and voted for the budget bill. One more Republican vote in the 40-member chamber is needed to approve it.

Maldonado said he had been warned that voting for the budget could cost him his seat in the next election. But he said he found no valid reason for holding up a budget with the new fiscal year already a month old.

“I think a vote for this budget is a vote for fiscal responsibility for the people of California,” he said on the Senate floor. “If I lose my election because I voted for a balanced budget that doesn’t raise taxes, then that’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

Republicans want a balanced budget and have held out for $700 million in spending cuts to eliminate the deficit in the current fiscal year.

They have warned that the state is in a precarious financial situation and must balance its books to avoid deep budget problems in the future. The deficit for the 2008-09 fiscal year is projected to be more than $5 billion.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.